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The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was established as a five-year plan by President George W. Bush in 2003 to address an epidemic ravaging Africa and other parts of the world. It celebrated its 20th anniversary in January 2023. Initially envisioned as an “emergency” program, PEPFAR confirms the old adage that there is nothing more permanent than a temporary government program. The program is currently up for five-year renewal in the U.S. Congress and another $30 billion in funding.

To see the difference between a so-called “feminist foreign policy” and a foreign policy that is truly “pro-women,” just look at the U.N.’s annual Commission on the Status of Women(CSW), which continues this week.

Twenty-five years ago this week, then-first lady Hillary Clinton famously declared, “Human rights are women’s rights … and women’s rights are human rights.” The United Nations General Assembly is commemorating the 25th anniversary of the event where Clinton said that—the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing.

In recent testimony the head of Catholic Relief Services requested that Congress increase international humanitarian aid in the Fiscal Year 2024 budget to almost 73 billion, as many people in the world’s poorest countries face dire circumstances.

International family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) are critical to achieving gender equity, but U.S. investment in them is not nearly sufficient to meet the moment.The Biden-Harris